Christmas Kerfluffle

Christmas is sweeping over us and I am undone. Remember that song? I think I do. Is it I am undone or I've come undone? Either way, yes. After my aunt's party we still had company and thoroughly enjoyed them. They left on a snowy tuesday and we have had snow and cold and wind and rain and then more snow ever since. last night we had enough snow all day to cover everything but it turned to rain and washed it all away. I was up a 5am for a walk to the bathroom where I peeked out the window to a perfectly snow free surrounding. When I got up for the day at about 6:30 everything was covered with snow again. Now? the sun is out brightly and the sky is blue. Help me Hannah.

Christmas has been behaving like the weather. We often have Christmas Eve with all the fam here. The family is growing and our house isn't. I think I may have mentioned this before. Thanksgiving, if you read the account, was so flexible it was wishy washy and wound up here with more than a couple of folks. Christmas Eve last year was at my in laws new (and Big)house. We, my husband and I, believed at Thanksgiving that it would be there again this year. Evi-dam-dently we were the only ones who believed that. I was skipping along, fat, dumb and happy with the notion that we would not drag out the tree and bows and such since we wouldn't be here. My husband has surgery scheduled for Jan 3rd so I was counting some blessings and said "well, one good thing is that I won't have to put everything away and how good is that because I wouldn't have help doing that." Then. The phone rang.

Oh yes. You guessed it. My husband came into the room with a look of total confusion. "When did I say we would have Christmas here?" he asked. "Since you're still alive, I would say you didn't" I responded. And yet some in law heard him say that and off we go. Many phone calls later and only 6 days left, we are going to the in laws on Christmas Eve. Next year we're taking that cruise I always threaten and this time I mean it.

Hope your holidays are smooth and peaceful. Merry Christmas to all.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me! Yes. Another one bites the dust. Yesterday we attended a surprise party for my Aunt's 90th birthday. She was so surprised that her sons were worried she might collapse. Trooper and tough stuff that she is, she recovered and made the rounds for the rest of the afternoon never stopping to sit or eat. People who attended were astounded that she could be 90. Honestly, she looks 20 years younger.

During the event there were cousins or so who realized my birthday was imminent. We have a lot of December birthdays in the family. March was a month of cold dark nights obviously. As we hugged and they said Happy Birthday, I would correct them and explain it was not my birthday until tomorrow- now today and advised them of pain and death if they should say anything louder than the whisper to me. For once in my life I was listened to and they behaved. It was, after all, my Aunt's day.

Today however is mine. As many as there are, these years have gone by in a swoosh. I hope I have 20 more and like my Aunt, sail through looking strong and sane.